Kalamazoo-class monitor: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|United States Navy's Kalamazoo-class monitors}}

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}

{|{{Infobox Shipship Imagebegin}}

|Ship{{Infobox ship image=

|Ship captionimage=USS Kalamazoo at sea.jpg

|Ship caption=Engraving of ''Kalamazoo''

}}

{{Infobox Shipship Classclass Overviewoverview

|Name=''Kalamazoo''- class

|Builders=

|Operators={{navynaval|USAUnited States}}

|Class before={{sclass|Miantonomoh|monitor|4}}

|Cost=

|Class after={{USS|Puritan|BM-1|6}}

|Built range=1862–631863–65

|Total ships planned=4

|Total ships builtcompleted=0

|Total ships scrapped=4

}}

{{Infobox Shipship Characteristicscharacteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship type=[[Monitor (warship)|Monitor]]

|Ship tons burthen=3,200 ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])

|Ship displacement= {{convert|5600|LT|t}}

|Ship length={{convert|345|ft|5|in|m|1|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam={{convert|56|ft|8|in|m|1|abbr=on}}

|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}

|Ship power=*{{convert|2000|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}} (estimated)

|Ship power=*8 × Tubular [[boiler (steam generator)|boilers]]

|Ship propulsion=2 × Shafts<br/>2 × [[Marine_steam_engine#Direct acting|Direct-acting steam engines]]

|Ship propulsion=*2 × Shafts

|Ship propulsion=*2 × Shafts<br/>2[[Marine ×steam [[Marine_steam_engineengine#Direct acting|Direct-acting steam engines]]

|Ship speed={{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship range=

|Ship complement=

|Ship armament=2 × 2 - {{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[smoothbore]] [[Dahlgren gun]]s

|Ship armor=*[[Gun turret]]: {{convert|10|-15 in|? (254-381 mm|abbr=on|1}}<br />)
*Hull: {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}<br />
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}

|Ship notes=

}}

|}

The '''''Kalamazoo'' -class monitors''' were a [[ship class|class]] of ocean-going [[ironclad]] [[Monitor (warship)|monitormonitors]]s begun during the [[American Civil War]]. Unfinished by the end of the war, their construction was suspended in November 1865 and the [[Wood drying|unseasoned wood]] of their hulls rotted while they were still on the building [[Stocks (shipyard)|stocks]]. If the four ships had been finished they would have been the most seaworthy monitors in the US Navy. One was [[ship breaking|scrapped]] in 1874 while the other three were disposed of a decade later.

==Design and description==

[[John Lenthall (shipbuilder)|John Lenthall]], Chief of the [[Bureau of Construction and Repair]], ordered Benjamin F. Delano, naval constructor at [[New York City]], to design a wooden-hulled ironclad that would carry her armament in two gun turrets. The [[deck (ship)|deck]] was to be {{convert|3|ft|m|1}} above the [[waterline]] and protected by {{convert|3|in}} of armor. The ship's side armor was to be {{convert|10|in|0}} thick, backed by {{convert|12|-|15|in|0}} of wood; it was to cover the entire ship's side, down to a depth three feet below the waterline. It should carry enough coal to steam one week at full power with "sufficient speed to make good use of its [[naval ram|ram]]".<ref>Canney, p. 124–25</ref> [[Gideon Welles]], [[Secretary of the Navy]], called them enlarged versions of the {{sclass|Miantonomoh|monitor|2}}s with greater speed and "adapted to coast service", meaning more seaworthy.<ref name=c5>Canney, p. 125</ref>

The ''Kalamazoo''-class ships were {{convert|345|ft|5|in|m|1}} [[length overall|long overall]] and had a [[length between perpendiculars]] of {{convert|332|ft|6|in|m|1}}. They had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|56|ft|8|in|m}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|17|ft|6|in|m|1}}. The ships were designed to displace {{convert|5660|LT|t|lk=in}} and were 3,200 [[Builder's Old Measurement|tons burthen]].<ref name=s9>Silverstone 1989, p. 9</ref> They were the largest ships to be built in navy shipyards to date.<ref name=c5/>

Their unseasoned wooden hulls were massively reinforced by iron straps as well as iron [[stanchions]] to bear the enormous weight of their armor and guns. They retained the typical monitor overhang introduced by [[John Ericsson]], designer of the {{USS|Monitor||2}}, where the upper part of the hull was {{convert|42|in}} wider than the lower part of the hull. The ''Kalamazoo''{{'}}s [[wrought iron]] side armor consisted of two layers of three-inch plates, backed by 21 inches of wood, six feet in height. The outer layer of armor extended {{convert|18|in|mm}} further below the waterline. The three-inch deck armor rested on {{convert|6|in|0}} of wood and was covered in another three inches of wood.<ref name=c5/>

They were powered by two 2-cylinder horizontal [[Marine steam engine#Direct acting|direct-acting steam engines]], each driving one {{convert|15|ft|m|1|adj=on}} propellers, using steam generated by eight tubular [[boiler (steam generator)|boilers]].<ref name=c5/>{{#tag:ref|Chesneau & Kolesnik claim that these were [[Martin boiler]]s.<ref name=ck2>Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 122</ref>|group=Note}} The engines were rated at {{convert|2000|ihp|lk=in}} and designed to reach a top speed of {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=ck2/> They had a [[bore (engine)|bore]] of {{convert|46.5|in|mm|0}} and a [[stroke (engine)|stroke]] of {{convert|50|in|mm|0}}. Two large [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]s were positioned between the turrets to handle the [[combustion gases]] from the boilers.<ref name=c5/> The ''Kalamazoo''s were intended to carry {{convert|500|LT|t}} of coal.<ref name=ck2/>

The ships' main armament consisted of four [[smoothbore]], [[muzzle-loading]], {{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[Dahlgren gun]]s mounted in two twin-gun turrets.<ref name=c5/> Each gun weighed approximately {{convert|43000|lb}}. They could fire a {{convert|350|lb|1|adj=on}} shell up to a range of {{convert|2100|yd}} at an elevation of +7°.<ref>Olmstead, et al, p. 94</ref> The turrets were protected by 15 inches of armor.{{#tag:ref|Silverstone claims that their armor was only 10 inches thick.<ref name=s9/>|group=Note}}<ref name=ck2/>

==Ships==

Line 39 ⟶ 56:

|-valign="bottom"

! align=center |Ship

! align=center|Builder<ref name=s9/>

! align=center|Namesake

! align=center|Renamed<ref name=s9/>

! align=center|Laid down<ref name=s9/>

! align=center|Suspended<ref name=s9/>

! align=center|Scrapped<ref name=s9/>

|-valign=center

|''Kalamazoo''

|align=center|[[Brooklyn Naval Shipyard]], [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]]

|align=center|[[Kalamazoo River]]<ref>Silverstone 1984, p. 456</ref>

|align=center|''Colossus'', 15 June 1869

|align=center|1863

|align=center rowspan=4|17&nbsp;November&nbsp;1865

|align=center rowspan=3|1884

|-valign=center

|''Passaconaway''

Line 59 ⟶ 76:

|align=center|''Thunderer'', 15 June 1869; ''Massachusetts'', 10 August 1869

|align=center|18 November 1863

|align=center|1884

|-valign=center

|''Quinsigamond''

Line 66 ⟶ 82:

|align=center|''Hercules'', 15 June 1869; ''Oregon'', 10 August 1869

|align=center|15 April 1864

|align-valign=center|1884

|''Shackamaxon''{{#tag:ref|Also spelled ''Shakamaxon''.<ref name=sd>{{cite DANFS | title = Shakamaxon | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s10/shakamaxon.htm | access-date =1 January 2013 }}</ref>|group=Note}}

|-valign=center

|''Shackamaxon''

|align=center|[[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]

|align=center|[[Shackamaxon]]<ref>Silverstone 1984, p. 479</ref>

|align=center|''Hecla'', 15 June 1869; ''Nebraska'', 10 August 1869

|align=center|late 1863

|align=center|January 1874<ref name=sd/>

|}

==Construction and fate==

Construction of the ships began between late 1863 and early 1864 and they were still being built when the war ended in early 1865. Construction was suspended on all four on 17 November 1865; they remained on the stocks. The ships were renamed, usually twice, in 1869 to conform to several new ship naming conventions. [[Vice Admiral]] [[David Dixon Porter|David D. Porter]] ordered that ''Colossus'' be rebuilt to carry 10 large [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] guns and fitted with iron [[mast (sailing)|masts]] in a [[ship rig]], but this never happened. The unseasoned wood in their hulls quickly began to rot after construction was suspended and they were broken up beginning in 1874.<ref name=c5/> Unusually, ''Passaconaway'' was condemned by an Act of Congress on 5 August 1882 before she was finally broken up in 1884.<ref>{{cite DANFS | title = Passaconaway | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p2/passaconaway-i.htm | access-date =1 January 2013 }}</ref>

==Notes==

{{Reflistreflist|2group=Note}}

==Footnotes==

{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==

*{{cite book|last=Canney|first=Donald L.|title=The Old Steam Navy: The Ironclads, 1842–1885|publisher=Naval Institute Press|___location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=1993|volume=2|isbn=0-87021-586-8}}

*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-19051860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|___location=Greenwich, UK|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}

* {{cite book|last1=Olmstead|first1=Edwin|last2=Stark|first2=Wayne E.|last3=Tucker|first3=Spencer C.|title=The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon|publisher=Museum Restoration Service|___location=Alexandria Bay, New York|isbn=0-88855-012-X}}

*{{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|___location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

Line 88 ⟶ 110:

==External links==

{{Portal|American Civil War}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040302103255/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/k1/kalamazoo.htm] [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] entry on ''Kalamazoo''

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040314020402/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p2/passaconaway-i.htm] [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] entry on ''Passaconaway''

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040317224335/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/q1/quinsigamond.htm] [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] entry on ''Quinsigamond''

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040314163215/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s10/shakamaxon.htm] [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] entry on ''Shackamaxon''

{{Union ironclads}}

{{good article}}

[[Category:ShipsCancelled ships of the UnionUnited States Navy]]

[[Category:Monitor classes]]

[[Category:Kalamazoo-class monitors| ]]